EP1804226A2 - Method for route information transmission - Google Patents

Abstract

The method transmits route information from a navigation system which carries out route calculations and a central site for further processing. Partial information is associated with the calculated route and this is used to reproduce the calculated route. The partial information is transmitted to the central site and the route is reproduced there.

Description

The present invention relates to a method for transmitting route information from a navigation system carrying out a route calculation to a center for further processing.

Such route information transmission is required if at least two different devices for their functionality fall back on the same route. In the DE 103 43 486 A1 For example, a system for switching carpooling or transportation services between multiple subscribers is described. On the one hand, the subscribers are subdivided into providers who inform a service server about a route and its transport capacity, and on the other hand, in interested parties who inform the service server about a route for which they are looking for a take-along option. From the supply and demand of matching route sections, the service server associates the participants with each other by further processing the routes transmitted by the subscribers to the service server.

Another application is the detection of the current traffic situation by road users in a transport network in order to distribute the road users in the transport network so that congestion and disability can be avoided. The data determined in this way are referred to as "floating car data" (FCD) since, in contrast to previous stationary measuring points, which provide only cross-sectional information, the devices for FCD detection are mobile and "flow" with the traffic. This combination of navigation and navigation systems installed in a vehicle Communication unit determines via a satellite-based system, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), time and position of the vehicle and sends all information continuously to a central office in which the entire amount of data is further processed accordingly.

In such systems, a user enters his desired destination into his mobile phone prior to starting the journey, which acts as an off-board navigation system. Offboard navigation means that not the mobile phone itself calculates the route, but a route calculated by the central station is transmitted to the mobile phone. Furthermore, the expected travel time is transmitted for individual sections.

During the journey, a comparison between the centrally calculated and the actual travel time takes place automatically and without driver activity. Deviations from this are reported back to the central office. There, thus, the image of the traffic situation determined by other known sources, for example detectors or hydrographs, can be verified, supplemented and improved by the information collected by the mobile telephones. If a user drives a route very often, this regularity influences the stored hydrograph profile. In order to offer the same service to users of onboard navigation systems, they must announce and transmit their service center routes calculated by the mobile navigation system itself.

The transmission of the route to the service center can be done both wireless and wired transmission techniques. In the case of a wireless transmission, for example by means of GSM, GPRS and / or UMTS, this generally involves large amounts of data and thus high costs.

Against this background, it is the object of the present invention to reduce the amount of data to be transmitted and thus also the costs incurred for the transmission of route information.

This object is achieved by a method having the features of claim 1. In a method of the type described above, the invention provides that the calculated route is assigned partial information, based on which the calculated route can be reproduced, the partial information is transmitted from the navigation system to the central office and the route in the central office is subsequently reproduced.

The essential idea of the invention is not to transmit the route itself from the navigation system to the center, but only the information required to recalculate the route to the center. The aim here is to keep the amount of data as small as possible, but to transmit sufficient information so that the route recalculated or reproduced by the central station corresponds to the route calculated by the navigation system.

In order to be able to use different navigation systems, in a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention the sub-information contains information on an algorithm used in the calculation. This can ensure that the calculation is carried out largely identically, since the center knows the algorithm and can thus carry out the route calculation according to the same calculation rules.

Advantageously, the partial information may include information about a route length and / or duration of the route calculated in the navigation system and / or departure and arrival times. On the basis of this information, it is possible to check in the control center by comparing the corresponding information whether the two calculated routes are identical.

Furthermore, a verification of the identity of the two calculated routes can take place if, as provided in a preferred method according to the invention, the partial information additionally has information about intermediate coordinates located on the route.

Furthermore, in a method according to the invention, the partial information preferably has information on traffic messages to be taken into account. This ensures that the same boundary conditions are taken into account in the two individually executed route calculations.

In order to base as much of the route calculations as possible on the same boundary conditions, the sub-information may further advantageously contain information about user-specific settings. These settings can be used, for example, to select the fastest (time) or the shortest (distance) route. Furthermore, the user-specific settings may include the preferred roads having respective average speed values or avoiding tunnels or ferries and / or locations.

An advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention provides that the partial information has a unique identification of the route. For regularly used routes, for example, these can be assigned an identification number, which is stored in the service center. Subsequently, only this identification number is to be transmitted in order to determine the route unambiguously, since in the center the route data assigned to the identification number are stored and retrievable.

• Figur 1 - schematisch ein Anwendungsbeispiel für das erfindungsgemäße Verfahren.

The present invention will be explained in more detail by way of example with reference to an example of application with reference to FIG. This shows

• Figure 1 - schematically an application example of the inventive method.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the structure of a system for arranging carpooling and transport services with at least one stationary center 1 and a large number of subscribers 2 a, 2 b, 2 c, 3 a and 3 b. The participants are subdivided on the one hand into so-called providers 2a, 2b and 2c, which have a Provide services, such as carpooling or transport, to carry people and / or goods. These can be, for example, taxi companies and / or freight forwarders. On the other hand, the group of participants contains so-called prospective buyers 3a and 3b, who are looking for a means of transporting themselves and / or other persons or goods. The number of the center 1, the provider 2a, 2b and 2c and the prospective 3a and 3b is not limited to the number specified in the example.

In the vehicles of the providers 2a, 2b and 2c, an onboard navigation system (not shown) is installed in each case, which performs a position determination satellite-based. That is, it receives signal data from satellites 4 of a multiple satellite system, such as GPS or Galileo. Based on the satellite-based position determination and the destination, the respective on-board navigation system calculates a route for the corresponding subscriber 2a, 2b and 2c. Subsequently, the route information concerning the calculated routes is transmitted to the center 1.

The interested parties 3a, 3b are equipped with a mobile terminal, for example a PDA or a mobile phone. The position determination of the interested parties 3a and 3b can be satellite-based or via a subdivided into individual cells infrastructure 5 of a mobile network operator.

So that the center 1 can compare the routes offered for transport with the routes searched by the prospective customers 3a and 3b, it is necessary for the center 1 to know both the routes of the providers 2a, 2b and 2c as well as route information of the interested parties 3a and 3b , Here it is sufficient that the starting points and targets of the central station 1 are transmitted by the interested parties 3a and 3b, ie on the side of the prospective customers 3a and 3b, no route calculation is required. The center 1 can use this information to check whether offered routes touch the start / finish specifications of a prospective customer 3a or 3b.

Alternatively, the interested parties 3a and 3b can also transmit a route information of a route already calculated, so that the center 1 can recalculate and reproduce this route. In order that the amount of data of the route information to be transmitted does not become too large, the participants do not transmit the complete route information to the center 1, but only a partial information.

On the basis of this partial information, the control center 1 itself reproduces the corresponding routes. The routes of the different subscribers, the providers 2a, 2b and 2c as well as possibly the prospective customers 3a and 3b, which are recalculated by the central station 1, can now be compared with one another in the central office in order to convey corresponding carpooling opportunities or transport capacities to the subscribers.

The inventively provided partial information about the route has the smallest possible amount of data, so that the preferably wireless transmission can be done inexpensively. However, it must be ensured that the same, identical route is recalculated at the head office. The minimum requirement for a recalculation of the route is the transmission of the start and finish coordinates. Since the different navigation systems of different manufacturers on the market rely on different algorithms for calculating the route, the navigation systems partly calculate different routes for journeys with the same start / destination specifications.

Therefore, the transmitted partial information contains an indication of the algorithm used. The center 1 accesses the corresponding algorithm in accordance with the received partial information in order to arrive at the same result when recalculating the route. In order to avoid further deviations, if the mobile navigation system and the central office 1 access diverging map material, the central office can additionally transmit the version number of the mobile-stored map or the map CD and / or DVD.

Further details that significantly influence the calculation of a route are the user-specific settings, for example, calculating the shortest route in terms of distance or an alternative route that takes longer but shorter travel time. Furthermore, the user may want to avoid, for example, toll roads, bridges or tunnels on the route.

In principle, the mobile navigation system is simulated in the control center in order to be able to reproduce the route. It is important that the amount of data of the transmitted partial information with the corresponding information for the route calculation does not exceed the amount of data of the calculated route.

In a further example of an application, time and position values can be transmitted by mobile road users to a control center, which combines the incoming traffic information of as many users as possible into a traffic situation. Based on the traffic situation, a part of the participants can receive driving recommendations in order to avoid polluted sections of a traffic network. Thus, the control center 1 can determine, for example, if the center 1 knows the route of the subscriber 2a, if, due to the traffic situation along this route, a traffic jam or a disability is imminent in order, if necessary, to transmit a diversion recommendation to the subscriber 2a.

Claims (7)

A method for transmitting route information from a navigation system carrying out a route calculation to a center for further processing, characterized in that the calculated route is assigned a partial information, based on which the calculated route is reproducible, the partial information is transmitted from the navigation system to the central office and then the route is reproduced in the central office. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the partial information has information about an algorithm used in the calculation. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the partial information has information about a route length and a travel time of the route and / or departure and arrival times. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the partial information has information about intermediate coordinates located on the route. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sub-information comprises information to be considered traffic reports. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the partial information has information on user-specific settings. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the partial information has an identification of the route.

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